Winchester Model 98 Signal Cannon serial numbers — what the records say
The Winchester Model 98 Signal Cannon is a miniature breech-loading cannon designed to fire 10-gauge blank charges for signaling and saluting.
- Produced:
- 1903–1958
- Action:
- single-shot
Where these dates come from
No published table matches Winchester Model 98 Signal Cannon serial numbers to years. Neither the surviving factory records nor the collector references provide one. What is known about its serial numbers is summarized in the notes on this page.
What to know about Model 98 Signal Cannon serial numbers
- Winchester cannons made through 1954 had no serial numbers. Six-digit serial numbers started in 1955, but no reliable serial range has been found for the cannons made from 1955 to 1958.
- Hidden matching numbers get called different things. Some auction listings treat matching numbers on the underside of the barrel and band as serial numbers. Another cannon with no serial number carries the matching assembly number 10.
- No widely published table turns a serial number into a year.
- The pre-1899 antique cutoff does not apply here. Commercial production began in 1903. The name "Model 98" refers to design work done in 1898, not to cannons finished before 1899.
- Cannons made later under licence, starting in 1975 and again in 2024, should not be added to the original Winchester total unless they are clearly labelled as such.
- Dunlap announced a run of 250 cannons in 2024. Those modern numbers tell you nothing about the missing 1955–1958 Winchester range.
- George Madis's tables list it as the factory "Model 98 Cannon" under "Salute Cannon." Other material commonly calls it the Winchester Model 98 Signal Cannon.
Other Winchester models
No factory letter is available for the Model 98 Signal Cannon
The Cody Firearms Museum, which holds Winchester’s surviving factory records and issues factory letters, does not list the Model 98 Signal Cannon among the models it can search. The published tables on this page are the best evidence available for dating one.
Which Winchester models can be lettered, and what a letter shows →